‘India's vax plan better than listed countries'

THE latest WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunisation coverage (WUENIC) data have said that India's antigenwise coverage is better than that of the world average for all antigens for 2023, sources said.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT

Government sources said India's population, multiple times more than several nations, was ignored while comparing children's vaccination data with 19 other countries in the latest WHO and UNICEF estimates.

"Even though India has the second highest number of zerodose children in the world, it accounts for 0.11% of the country's total population," Union health ministry sources said.

Sources were reacting to the WUENIC data released on Monday, which stated that India had the second-highest number of children, nearly 16 lakh, who did not receive any vaccine in 2023, just after Nigeria, which had 21 lakh zero-dose children. "The comparison is flawed as the base population has not been taken into consideration," said a source.